Talgo UK and Chesterfield Borough Council have taken another step towards bringing advanced rail skills and technology to the town, with the delivery of a ‘very-high-speed’ rail vehicle for training and education purposes at the end of January.

This comes alongside news of a ‘framework agreement’ between the Borough Council and Talgo UK, setting out plans for a new DRIIVe (Derbyshire Rail Industry Innovation Vehicle) innovation and training centre.

Co-located with Barrow Hill Roundhouse, this will involve Chesterfield College, the University of Derby, Newcastle University’s NewRail and Midlands Rail Forum.

It will have over 3,400m² of floor space, create 190 jobs and provide training for 1,800 people over 10 years.

Talgo is a rolling-stock specialist with a presence in 44 countries; it is mainly focused on designing, manufacturing and servicing fast lightweight trains. Its plans for the UK also include a manufacturing plant at Longannet in Scotland.

The two sites will work together to ensure that the expertise and knowledge needed to build and export ‘state of the art’ trains will be embedded in the UK.

The company intends to reinvigorate the UK supply chain and source from it wherever possible, up-skilling workers, protecting jobs, and keeping more money in the local and national economies of the UK.

Talgo president Carlos de Palacio said: “I am delighted to deliver a high-speed present from Spain.

This is part of Talgo’s plan to generate better understanding of Talgo’s technologies, which are being used around the world but have so far eluded the UK.

"I hope that it is not long before we see the next generation of Talgo’s products built in the UK, with technical knowledge and innovation being provided by a team headquartered in Chesterfield, and drawing on the knowledge and expertise of the whole of the UK.”